Steve Unger, Sr.

Steve Unger, Sr., age 69, of Pompton Lakes, passed Monday April 29, 2019.

He was born in Paterson to Ignacius and Julie Unger and raised at 14 Dewey Avenue in Totowa. He graduated from Passaic Valley High School with the class of 1970.  Just out of high school he started what would become a lifelong career in the telecom industry. He started at New Jersey Bell Telephone as a technician and after thirty-four years he retired in 2004 from management at the Verizon Corporation.  Steve was always busy and even in his retirement he worked as “Steve the Handy Guy” from his home in Pompton Lakes.

While working at New Jersey Bell Telephone in Passaic Steve met a cute young girl named Faye Hilmayer.  They fell in love and Steve proposed marriage while they were out to dinner.  They married on October 14, 1973 at Saint James Church in Totowa and honeymooned at the Elbow Beach Hotel in Bermuda. Steve and Faye have enjoyed a loving and devoted marriage of forty-six years.

Steve always had a love of cars. He rebuilt a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro and would take it to area car shows.  He has several trophies attesting to his talent at rebuilding this car. For several years he also enjoyed his 1987 Corvette. He enjoyed playing golf and was skilled enough to score a hole-in-one.  When it came to sports he enjoyed many years of bowling in leagues at the Holiday Bowl in Oakland and T-Bowl Lanes in Wayne.  He even scored a perfect 300 game in a league event. He had several nicknames including “Hot Rod” relating to his love of cars and “Scuba Steve” which was a reference to his coughing and choking as he just couldn’t figure out how to breathe through a snorkel when swimming.

Steve was the loving husband of Faye; devoted father of Steve Unger, Jr. and his wife Rebekah of Point Pleasant, Lisa Picinic and her husband Wesley of Wayne, and Matthew Unger and his wife Jennifer of Bloomingdale; cherished grandfather of Harper Picinic, Steve Unger, III, Evangeline Picinic, and Grace Unger; he was the dear brother of Joyce DeMattia of Totowa (John-predeceased), Margaret “Marge” Minchin (Dennis) of Pequannock, Grace Tauras (George) of Fair Lawn, and Carole Unger (Cato) of Bloomingdale.  He was also dearly loved by his cousins, nieces, nephews, and many friends.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the Institute for Educational Achievement, 381 Madison Ave., New Milford, NJ 07646 would be greatly appreciated.